


Loose Ends

by MeganRosenberg



Series: Loose Ends [1]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Best Friends, Don corneo being a creep, Emotional Hurt, Friendship, Gen, Guilt, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Male Friendship, Minor Violence, Non-Consensual Drug Use, POV Reno (Compilation of FFVII), POV Rude, Post-Sector 7 Plate Drop (Compilation of FFVII), Protective Rude, Regret, Reno (Compilation of FFVII) Being An Asshole, Reno (Compilation of FFVII)-centric, Reno and Rude - Freeform, Sexual Assault, Smart Reno (Compilation of FFVII), Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Threats of Violence, Turks (Compilation of FFVII), pervert don corneo, protective reno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:41:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24384463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeganRosenberg/pseuds/MeganRosenberg
Summary: After dropping the plate onto Sector 7, Reno and Rude are sent to dispatch Don Corneo. Things do not go as planned at Corneo's mansion when the two Turks are unwittingly lured into one of Corneo's traps and quickly lose control over the situation.
Series: Loose Ends [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123319
Comments: 30
Kudos: 74





	1. Chapter 1

xxxxxx

chapter 1

xxxxxx

"How we gonna get in here if this creep only lets women past the front door?" Reno asked as he and Rude made their way up the stairs toward Don Corneo's mansion. "I mean, I'm not totally opposed to just plowing through anyone who stands in our way... but you know... needless brutal slaughter's not really my thing." He smirked with a raised eyebrow.

Rude exhaled and shook his head. Hopefully they could keep the needless casualties to a minimum. They did enough of that last night to last Rude the rest of his life.

This morning, he and Reno had been informed they were going to be sent out here to what was probably the most disgusting place Rude had ever set foot in, to take this guy out after learning he'd let information spill about their plan to drop the plate. The whole thing would have been significantly easier if they hadn't had to fight with the people who called the slums home, and this guy telling people he assumed weren't going to be able to do anything about it was dangerous. Dangerous and stupid. Even if Reno and Rude ultimately got the job done anyway, it sure would have been less complicated if the people from Avalanche weren't all there fighting back, practically begging them not to do it...

Would have been easier on Rude's conscience too... not having to see the people who actually lived there literally fighting for their lives against him and his partner. Rude felt like shit over what he'd had to do. He was pretty sure Reno did too, but as usual, the red-haired man was wound up as ever, ignoring those feelings, rattling on and on without even waiting for Rude to respond to anything he said.

"They probably didn't count on anyone ever demanding entrance like we're about to." Reno looked over his shoulder with a grin. "This weird creep may be a big deal in this cesspool, but he's not shit compared to us. If they don't know that yet, they will."

Rude shook his head silently again. He could tell his partner was kind of excited about this one, unlike their previous assignment, which they both had disagreed with from the start and had definite unspoken regret for. The idea of dropping the plate had clearly made the younger man feel guilty, but when he saw the blonde man from before - the one they'd each fought with and lost to already, Reno made it personal - nearly got himself killed doing it too...

"This is gonna be easy." Reno went on. "We'll just let whoever's at the door know they move aside, or they die. Simple as that. Then we go upstairs, find this fat fuckin' creep, zap 'im..." He held his rod up in front of him with another wide grin. "Then go the hell home and get some much needed damn sleep."

Rude let out a half-laugh that could have been easily confused with a mere breath, and nodded. They did both need sleep after last night. The whole incident was an absolute nightmare. It was supposed to be simple and quick - devastating to people who weren't them, obviously making them both feel like monsters... but at least it would be quick. And they weren't ever meant to get so close to the people whose lives they were destroying. Rude hadn't intended on seeing any of it so up close and personal, and he and Reno both sort of quietly stalled for time and made things even more of a spectacle as soon as the gravity of what they were about to do set in.

They hadn't planned on risking their own lives either. Rude hadn't planned on having to push the button and drop the plate himself after Reno was knocked out. Reno kind of forced him to either do it, or end up with both of them facing the wrath of their superiors.

"Knock knock!" Reno yelled out as he pushed open the front doors to the mansion.

After a small lobby of sorts was another set of doors, with several men standing guard in front of it. Rude narrowed his eyes, looking them up and down. They didn't seem like much, but he knew better than to discount the possibility that they may be more trained than they looked.

"We're gonna keep this short and sweet so we can get this done and go home. You probably all are eager to get the fuck outta this disease-ridden hell hole too, so step aside, and we'll be on our way." Reno immediately offered with wide-spread arms and an almost bowing gesture.

"What?" One of the guards frowned. "Who are you guys?"

"We're here to talk to your boss. To liberate you from his bullshit once and for all." Reno smiled hitting his hand gently with his weapon as a sort of subtle threat. "You're welcome."

Rude exhaled softly. Why did Reno have to make such a big show of everything he ever said or did? "We need to discuss an important matter with him. Shinra stuff. You understand." Rude spoke up, maintaining his usual cool exterior and straight face. People often took him more seriously than they did Reno if only because Rude acted more professional, didn't make everything into a damn joke, didn't start swearing and offending everyone he saw immediately... It often didn't scare people like Reno's demeanor did either. Sometimes Rude's marks didn't even know he was sent to kill them until they were already fuckin' dead. Reno liked to brag about it first. Often made things harder on him than it needed to be, but the younger man seemed to almost welcome a challenge.

"The Don doesn't have any meetings scheduled with anyone... He would have mentioned something like that... You're going to have to leave." Another of the guards refused. "I'm sorry... Or you can have a seat... wait for one of us to have a word with him..."

"I ain't touchin' the furniture in this place." Reno growled. "Just step aside."

"I'll go ask him if it's okay... What are your names?" A third man wondered.

Reno shook his head and rolled his eyes with a loud, exaggerated exhale. "Let us through so we don't have to kill you... I got enough blood on my fuckin' hands."

Rude held his breath. He really didn't want to kill these people. He knew nothing about them other than the fact that they worked here, and he was so tired of people who didn't deserve to die dying at his and his partner's hands.

"We could just let 'em in..." One of the guards suggested in a low voice, almost like he didn't want Reno and Rude to hear it. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"They could kill him." Another whispered with raised eyebrows. "Or worse... they could try and fail... Then he's gonna kill us."

"Oh, we won't fail." Reno laughed.

"Why don't you head up to his office... There's stairs when you go in, last door on the second floor." One of the men spoke, looking toward his friend with a shrug. "If they do something, they do something... aren't you sick of working for this guy anyway?"

The other man narrowed his eyes, slowly nodding. "Right... I mean... So they'll just go right in? Right to his office... Last door. Okay... Yeah. I guess that's okay..."

Reno exhaled an annoyed breath and pushed his way past them. "Fuckin' finally. God damn. It's like some people seriously consider lettin' me kill 'em over just doing what I say in the first place. It's about time somebody took me up on the offer not to get their ass beat for a change."

"Last two times you gave someone that option-" Rude started.

"Shhh." Reno interrupted with a scowl. "They cheated. There were three of 'em the second time. One guy has a fuckin' machine gun on his arm... Didn't want to beat up the girl. It wasn't a fair fight... Plus you crashed a helicopter like practically on top of me. And the first time, Aerith was in the way so I held back."

Rude shook his head, knowing that wasn't true. Reno had lost fair and square, just as Rude did to the same people. They weren't aware of what they were up against. They got too confident.

"That crazy dude with the big sword was gonna legit kill me even after I stopped fighting back in the church." Reno pouted as he led the way up the stairs, past the first in a series of three doors. "Wish we could'a just killed him and not the whole town. He was a fuckin' asshole."

Rude frowned. "It's done. Let's move on." He suggested.

Reno continued past the second set of doors, then pushed open the third, leading the way down a short hall and into another room.

"This can't be fuckin' right." The younger man frowned as they walked into what looked like a storage space. "Is there another room attached to this one?" He walked through the room, scanning the walls for another door. "They said the last door, right?"

Rude exhaled and turned as he heard the door close behind him. "We better not be locked in here." He grumbled, walking calmly back toward the door. He tugged on it, then pushed. It didn't budge. He should have known better. The guards up front gave in too easily. He should have known they were up to something.

"Are you kidding me right now, partner?" Reno frowned, jogging back toward the door and trying it just as Rude had. "Those motherfuckers..." He growled, grabbing his weapon and bringing it up in front of himself, seemingly ready to use on whoever might be coming in to confront them.

Rude simply stared at the closed door, waiting, listening for footfalls or the sound of the other door down the hall opening. They didn't need to be ready to fight if they were simply locked in here. They'd just need to find a way out... then unfortunately, they'd probably have to get rid of all the guards in addition to the man they'd come here for.

"This is some next level bullshit." Reno grumbled as he paced around the room, his eyes darting around quickly, taking everything about the space in. "You tell a guy he can live if he just doesn't stand in your damn way... and that's too much to ask. It's like these fucking idiots wanna die."

Rude frowned as he silently watched Reno. The other man was wound up, as usual, probably quite ready to act without thinking - again, which kept getting him hurt lately. This was shaping up to be yet another instance where he was going to make this way more personal than it needed to be. He'd probably want to make a show out of beating up the guards, maybe at the expense of giving them the advantage of time while he verbally abused them...

"I'm gonna try to get out through this vent." Reno gestured toward a large square vent cover high up on the wall. "You can come with or wait in here... Whatever. Whoever's on the other end of this thing's getting their ass kicked either way."

"Reno, wait." Rude frowned, noticing Reno's hair moving slightly from the air coming out of the vent.

"Why?" Reno glanced over his shoulder. "I don't want to just wait here for someone to come in on their terms. I'm being proactive. Striking first." He paused for a second when Rude continued frowning. "I'll be quiet... Damn..." He added with rolled eyes and an exasperated sigh.

Inhaling a breath, Rude furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes. "The air smell weird in here to you? Almost... sweet?"

Reno stared back, inhaling, then shrugging. "I dunno... Didn't the whole place smell like flowers or something when we came in?" He sniffed the air again, wrinkling his nose and making a sort of disgusted face. "I don't know, man. I just wanna get out of here. This whole thing is exhausting... Like, I feel like I could fall asleep right here." He exhaled and blinked, cocking his head to the side slightly and staring at the older man.

Rude frowned, still staring silently back at Reno as the younger man's hair swayed gently thanks to the air flowing in through the vent behind him. It was a fairly moderate day as far as temperature and humidity were concerned. The building didn't need air circulating through the vents... So why were they on? And why did the air smell so sweet? And why was Rude starting to feel a little disoriented?

"Shit..." Rude grumbled under his breath as Reno turned back toward the vent, getting ready to open it up and climb through it. It wasn't just an air circulating system. In fact, the vent likely didn't lead into any other room. It was a means to circulate something else - into this room only... Some kind of drug, to either kill them or knock them out long enough for them to wake up later and wish they were dead.

"Does smell like sickly sweet though." Reno noted as he started reaching toward the metal grate. "Like practically suffocatingly so. Feels like it's sticking to my fuckin' lungs-"

Rude gritted his teeth together, stepping toward his partner and reaching out for his arm. "Reno, get away from the vent!"

"Why?" Reno frowned, turning toward his partner and stumbling slightly, frowning and gasping softly as he caught himself with his hands against a table. The younger man blinked and breathed out a small breath, seemingly just now realizing he was feeling disoriented just as Rude was - probably even more so thanks to his close proximity to the source of whatever drug was being directed into the room.

Rude pulled up the collar of his jacket, holding it over his mouth and nose as he looked around the small space, locating two more vents that were probably being used for the same nefarious purpose.

"Are those pricks pumping drugs in here through the vents?" Reno breathed, looking back up toward it and raising his arm up to cover his lower face. "I knew I was feeling dizzy... God damn it... I thought it was just nerves... These fuckers are drugging us!"

"I think so..." Rude frowned, heading back toward the door. "We need to get out of here. Now."

Reno followed behind him, seemingly tripping again, or otherwise bumping into a stack of crates on the way. Rude furrowed his brows as he glanced over his shoulder in time to see his partner partially bent forward, seemingly trying to catch his breath. He'd gotten so close to the vent. Rude had seen the air moving the man's hair and everything. It was clearly affecting him faster than Rude.

Letting out a low, frustrated growl, Rude took the last few steps up to the door, pulling and pushing on it again, then pounding with his fist. He could feel in his own movements that he was losing control here. He couldn't pound on the door as hard as he wanted to. He was feeling increasingly dizzy and weak.

"Reno..." Rude breathed, walking back toward his friend and grabbing the smaller man's arm near his elbow as Reno stumbled forward with a small groan.

"We gonna die in here, you think?" Reno spoke in a quiet, breathless voice as he blinked his heavy eyelids and let out a soft laugh. He was hunched over, practically on his knees, but forced himself to look up toward Rude with a half-smile. "Been nice knowin' ya, partner..."

"Just-" Rude exhaled, still holding his jacket over his own face. Reno wasn't bothering trying to filter his own breaths anymore. "We're not gonna die..." He promised, though he really wasn't so sure at this point. How could he know what kind of poison this gas was? How did he know if it was lethal?

"I don't think I can walk straight anymore, man..." Reno exhaled, his eyelids looking increasingly heavy as he struggled to keep them open.

Rude frowned, scowling and turning toward the noise of the door creaking open. He let his jacket fall back down from his face and balled his hands into fists as two men wearing some kind of gas masks made their way inside.

"The Don wants to talk." One of them laughed. "Do you two have a minute?"

Rude waited for one of them to get near him before swinging out his fist, but unfortunately missing as the man dodged to the side, causing Rude to stumble forward and sink down breathlessly against a wooden crate. He was too disoriented to fight. That was the whole point of these people drugging them, he was sure...

Reno obviously wasn't in the right shape to fight either, as the smaller man struck out wildly with his weapon, twice, back and forth as fast as he seemingly could at the moment, toward the second mask-wearing man, making no contact whatsoever as the guy approached him. The man easily grabbed Reno's arm, sliding his grip down over his wrist and toward his hand, squeezing until the red-haired man let go of his weapon with a shaky wince.

"Don't hurt him." The guy near Rude laughed as he watched the other one shove Reno back fairly hard - much harder than he needed to considering Reno was already almost unconscious. "He looks like somebody already beat the shit out of him... and The Don's gonna want to have his fun. Let's be careful with them for now."

Reno landed on the floor, halfway against the wall with a small groan of pain, perhaps even of frustration. "Don't fuckin' touch me..." He breathed weakly as he uselessly swatted at the hands reaching down toward him. Rude could tell he was having a very hard time keeping his eyes open. He sounded positively exhausted.

"This isn't going to work out in your favor..." Rude spoke in a low voice as he had no choice but to allow the other guard to grab his arms. He could barely even keep himself upright at this point. "Let us go, and we'll tell our boss yours wasn't here... Otherwise things are going to get nasty."

"For you guys." The guard laughed, dragging Rude toward the door.

Rude stumbled over his own feet as he was pulled along, certain he'd be entirely unable to make his way to the door on his own given the chance.

He glanced over his shoulder at Reno, who was being dragged up off the floor by the other man. He was completely still, eyes closed, seemingly entirely limp. He wasn't even trying to help walk himself out. He was being 100% dragged along by his captor. If he wasn't passed out, he was close.

Rude was close too. With each passing second, the world around him appeared darker and darker. His body felt more and more numb, and he was less and less sure that his legs were even moving. Was he even walking on his own anymore? He knew his arms hurt, where the guard was rather harshly grabbing onto them.

Pulling his heavy eyelids open one last time, Rude looked around the space around him as best as he could, trying to spot his partner. At this point, Reno seemed to have fully lost consciousness. He was slung over the other guard's shoulder, eyes closed, arms hanging limply down behind the guy whose arm was wrapped securely around the red-haired man's waist.

Rude closed his eyes again. There was no use fighting it. There was no point in trying to keep track of Reno's whereabouts or well-being. He couldn't do a damn thing about it. For now, he could only hope he and his friend were given enough time to fully wake back up and get themselves the hell out of here before they got killed or seriously hurt...

xxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

xxxxxx

chapter 2

xxxxxx

Groaning and exhaling a small breath, Reno tried to force his eyes to open. He felt so tired, so confused... His mouth was dry and he was honestly a little disoriented. Had he been drinking? Waking up shouldn't have been this hard. What the hell happened?

He heard a small moan escape his own lips as his eyes slowly fluttered open. He was in quite a bit of pain... but now that he thought about it, that wasn't anything new. He'd gotten pretty beat up during the fight at the pillar, and that had all went down less than twenty four hours ago. It was still very fresh. He probably wasn't further injured. He just felt like shit because of injuries he already had.

He tried to reach his hand toward his forehead, as he was starting to feel a pretty harsh headache brewing... Reno inhaled a small breath when he realized his arm was somehow restrained. He looked up to see his wrist cuffed and chained to the wall behind him.

"God damn it..." He grumbled to himself, pulling at his other arm and looking up to see it bound in the same manner so that his arms created a sort of wide-spread y-shape above his head. He stuck his lip out in a pout as he looked down at his feet and shifted his ankles. They were each chained too, with his legs spread so his feet were about shoulder-width apart.

Closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall, Reno exhaled an annoyed breath. He remembered now. He and Rude were sent to take out this creep sexual deviant bastard and the son of bitch's guards drugged them... He remembered they were told to go into a room that was supposed to be Corneo's office... but it was just storage, and then the fucking pricks pumped drugs in through the vents. He recalled Rude realizing before he did, warning him to stay away from the vents, covering his face, pounding on the door while Reno struggled to even follow his partner. He got really dizzy really fast. Next thing he knew, he was on the floor, bent over, feeling like he could barely breathe. Reno couldn't remember much of what happened after that. But it clearly hadn't been anything good. Not with him waking up like this... Now what the hell was going to happen?

Reno blinked his eyes back open, spotting his partner across the room, chained up in the exact same way. His usual sunglasses were gone, so Reno could see that his eyes were closed. He was still passed out.

"Rude..." Reno whispered, trying his best to keep his voice down so no one outside of this room would hear and come in. "Rude... You alive?"

Blinking his eyes again, opening them wider as he leaned forward trying to see Rude better, Reno stared at the man's chest, breathing out a small sigh of relief when he noticed the man's own chest slowly rising and falling. He was in fact still breathing. That was good... but who the hell knew how long it would last. They'd likely both be dead pretty soon.

Reno couldn't help but to frown as he shifted his wrists uncomfortably again. They were both in a pretty serious situation here. Being a good fighter did no damn good when your hands and ankles were strapped to a wall. How were they going to get out of this if Corneo and/or his people didn't let them? It was terrifying, really... to know they were at the mercy of someone else. They didn't have much to defend themselves with here. Maybe words. They could try to negotiate, threaten... That was about it.

Shifting his wrists and ankles under the cuffs, tugging, twisting, trying to get some idea of how likely it was he was going to be able to squeeze out of them, Reno hissed in pain. The cuffs were pretty secure. His arms felt exhausted too - from being chained up above him for who knew how long. It actually hurt at this point. Looking up at one of his hands, he pulled somewhat lightly, trying to get a good feel of if it was going to be possible to get out of this on his own. The cuffs were some kind of leather - to adjust to different sizes of wrists. They were fastened with a sort of buckle-strap that he could probably undo himself if he got even just one of his hands free... But the cuffs were pretty tight. Short of snapping his thumb off, he probably wasn't going to be able to get his hand out.

He felt himself sort of freeze, holding his breath when suddenly he felt like someone was watching him.

Looking toward the wall to his left, he noticed there was in fact someone else in here... A somewhat short, but heavy man who just had a general look to him that made Reno feel uneasy. He had a face that just looked like he was up to something, a weird hair style that reminded Reno of a cartoon baby. He looked like a fuckin' joke really, but a joke who might be willing to do really twisted shit behind closed doors... Like he knew he looked odd, and he rolled with it and was in on the joke, perhaps appearing harmless to anyone who didn't know better... until things didn't go his way.

Reno hadn't ever spent any time with Don Corneo. He didn't know the man, had never talked to him that he remembered, but from photographs and descriptions he had heard from others, he was pretty sure this was the guy they were sent in here to get rid of. This was the dumb son of a bitch who spilled the sector 7 plate drop plan to Avalanche. What a fucking idiot...

Corneo was leaning against the wall, smirking an irritatingly smug smile... just staring at Reno. His face alone made Reno want to punch him. He looked so confident, like he knew he had won... But he fucking cheated. Reno would have kicked his ass if even just one of his hands was free right now.

Reno frowned, staring silently back, wondering if he should let the guy speak first or start throwing out angry threats and insults. He certainly wasn't in a good position to be making threats at the moment... but he was pissed off and really wanted to yell at this motherfucker anyway.

"Glad to see you're finally coming around... Thought for second we'd accidentally killed you." Corneo laughed. "You see, one of my guys said he saw you were really close to the vent - almost like you knew and wanted to breathe in as much as you could. Very kinky, young man..." The guy smirked. "How are you feeling now, little guy?" Corneo cocked his head to the side as he pushed himself away from the wall and started toward Reno.

"Little?" Reno glared. "I'm taller than you, you weird little freak." He attempted to stand himself up straight to prove his point.

Corneo let out a soft laugh, walking up so close Reno could feel the guy's breath on his face and neck. "Yes, you're a bit taller aren't you..." He noted, tilting his head partially to the side, then running his hand down the length of Reno's arm, slowly. "But you're little. You're hardly taller, and you're so slender... small..."

Reno pulled uselessly at his arm, scoffing in annoyance. He wasn't going to argue with this prick about something so petty. Probably everyone looked tiny next to this fat fucker.

"You know, I met a man recently. You might know him actually. I think he's got something to do with why you and your friend over there are here..." Corneo went on as his rubbed his hand awkwardly over Reno's arm. "He really woke up some interesting ideas in my head." The man laughed. "I never thought about men in that way, but he was something else..."

"Okay..." Reno forced a small laugh, even though he really wanted to cringe. "Well, I guess I'll just cut in here. This is great story, really... but maybe let's get to the point here. You let me and my partner go, and we won't kill you. How about that?"

Corneo simply laughed, like he didn't believe Reno was serious.

Reno frowned. "I'm not fuckin' bluffing here, man. We were sent here to legit kill you... but since I'm feeling generous, if you uncuff us and let us outta here, we'll just go. I'll give ya a break. It's like a one-time thing... so don't do more stupid shit after this and I'll leave you alone."

Corneo shook his head. "You, who I have chained to a wall... are threatening me?" He smirked.

"That wasn't a threat, dipshit. I'm telling you I won't kill you... That's the reverse of a threat." Reno scoffed. "But if you don't let us go, Shinra's gonna send someone else, and you will die. There's your fuckin' threat."

Corneo simply smiled, so smugly. Reno wanted to punch him so bad. "You really don't have the power here that you think you do, sweetheart." Corneo shook his head. "I don't have to listen to you. You realize you and your friend over there are at my mercy, right? I get to call the shots."

Reno glared, honestly starting to feel legitimately nervous. This guy could kill him and Rude, like right now. He could have killed them already if he'd wanted to. How long were they passed out? How long was this creep standing in here, watching, waiting, thinking about how he wanted to torture and/or kill them. Was that his plan?

At the moment, Reno couldn't rely on any of his usual tricks. His weapon was gone - probably still where he dropped it in the drug-room... Maybe one of the guards took it to use themselves, which was bullshit because it was a really cool rod and he was kind of proud of it... He couldn't use his usual agility and speed. He couldn't even move... Reno was definitely not in control right now - like at all. And that scared the hell out of him.

"Anyway, this man I met, this boy... Well, that's not accurate - he was a man. A young man. Like you. Somewhat feminine features - also like you." Corneo further explained this odd anecdote Reno hadn't ever asked to hear. "Beautiful eyes-"

"My features ain't fuckin' feminine." Reno growled, starting to get increasingly uncomfortable with this story. Corneo clearly had a weird crush on this guy he was referencing, and the fact that he was comparing Reno to him so much was unnerving.

Corneo was still smiling, like he was enjoying this whole interaction way too much. "Well, this lovely young man - he raised some interesting thoughts in my head... I had put so much focus on women, never really even looked at men like that... But this guy... He was special. Lovely little lips, hair that looked soft, though I didn't get to touch it, unfortunately..."

Reno exhaled a soft gasp and flinched as Corneo raised his hand up toward his face, taking some of his hair between his fingers.

"Yours is quite soft... Feels almost dusty though. You need to wash it." Corneo frowned.

"Yeah... I got real close to a pretty big explosion last night. Haven't been home yet." Reno stared.

"Right..." Corneo nodded. "Of course you did... Well, my new friend, who I guess got me in quite a bit of trouble... He was lovely. Simply stunning. Absolutely gorgeous. Dressed himself up like a woman, fooled me..." He laughed.

"Wait... What? How fuckin' feminine was this guy?" Reno scoffed. "Are you kidding? You don't know the difference?"

Corneo smiled softly again, stepping even closer to Reno, running his hand back from the younger man's wrist, down his arm, and over toward his collar bone.

Reno swallowed nervously. He hadn't ever been in a position like this, completely tied down with no way out... Nor had he ever had one of his enemies weirdly rubbing their hands all over him, petting his hair, saying odd, creepy shit about feminine men they had crushes on and how Reno resembled these men. He was pretty sure none of this enemies had ever felt his fucking hair...

No. It wasn't ever like this. At all. It was usually a bit of talking - the enemy giving in, or not if they didn't take Reno seriously when the threatened them... and in that case, which was often - as people underestimated him a lot, there was a quick, rather violent fight. Reno was the winner, and he left. No time for weird psychological shit like this.

"He was lovely." The overweight man continued. "More muscular than you. By far... but still not quite enough to make me even realize he was a man at first. Women can be muscular too, you know." Corneo answered. "I must say, I was disappointed when he revealed he wasn't really a woman, like I'd thought... but the more I considered it after he was gone, the more I realized I might not have minded, if only he was here for the reasons he had claimed... He was actually here to try to get information from me." Corneo pouted as though disappointed. "He didn't really want to compete to be my bride..."

Reno shook his head slightly, trying to subtly lean away from the guy's touch as he stared down at the hand caressing his skin. Corneo's hand was huge. The guy was short, out of shape, probably not trained in fighting at all, but he had big hands - hands that could probably do some damage even to a trained Turk if said Turk was tied down and unable to move. His fingertips still rested awkwardly on Reno's collar bone, rubbing very slightly back and forth. And not even over his shirt. The creep's fingertips were touching his skin... just rubbing.

"Well..." Reno breathed, glancing toward Rude for a moment and biting his lower lip out of nervousness. His partner was still out cold. Maybe that was a good thing. What would Rude think if he saw all this? That Reno was weak? The he needed to be saved because he couldn't save himself? Reno didn't want that... He didn't want his partner seeing that he was in such an embarrassing, degrading position, with this creep saying this weird shit and rubbing his hands on him like a pervert.

He looked back at Corneo, choosing to be patient for now. "Great for you... I mean... meeting that guy. I'm sorry he lied to you and whatever, but it's a profound experience on your part anyway, right? Learnin' something new about yourself... Accepting your sexuality for what it is... No shame... Just goin' with it. That's pretty cool, really. It's not my business whatsoever and I don't judge. That's just wonderful. I'm uh - proud of you man... so unlock us, and we'll head out, and you can get back to it. Hold some auditions for husbands or something. I wish you all the luck in the world."

Corneo let out a a short laugh. "My last girl - or boy..." The man laughed again and rolled his eyes. "...Was a little muscular for my taste if I'm going to be honest. I mean, it was interesting, something new... but any man would be something new, right? And I do find I like the smaller ladies, so perhaps my tastes wouldn't change much in that regard. You're so skinny..." He noted. "Delicious..."

Reno forced a nervous laugh. "I ain't on the menu, man..." He stared, feeling his heartbeat quicken as he tried to lean away, but only managed to press his back more firmly against the wall he had already been leaning against.

Corneo continued staring, licking his lips as he ran his fingers slowly down Reno's chest, grabbing a hand around his waist, toward his back, and pulling him slightly forward. "You are just so tiny. It's adorable... Your little waist is just like a woman's."

Reno gritted his teeth together, feeling anger and fear both bubbling up inside him. The two emotions were conflicting to the point where he wasn't sure if he should get mad and lash out verbally or just shut up for once so he wouldn't piss the guy off. If he started being mean to this guy, would it make this worse? Was he willing to take no for an answer? Would Reno telling him to back the fuck off just make him angry, violent?

"Yes, you're perfect." Corneo breathed, his smile widening to show all of his teeth as he squeezed firmly but gently around Reno's waist, putting his other hand lightly on the side of his neck. It didn't seem like he was going to stop on his own. Reno was going to have to be more aggressive. Playing nice wasn't getting him anywhere.

"Okay... I've been more than patient up 'til this point... but you're gonna want to get the fuck off of me." Reno finally growled, unable to keep quiet any longer. For now, his anger and discomfort far outweighed any fear. He was more annoyed than he was scared... though the two emotions were getting close to being pretty level.

"Why?" Corneo whispered. "You don't think this might be fun? No one has to know... Your buddy over there's still sleeping. We can go quick, with him right here in the room, none the wiser. I'm sure you've got some interesting kinks, and I know I do. We can explore it together. No shame. You tell me what you're into, and we'll try it... I'll even do yours first. You call the shots."

"I'm calling that you fuckin' undo these cuffs on my arms and get the hell away from me." Reno breathed.

Corneo shook his head. "That won't do. I can take the lead then..."

Reno felt his throat growing tight as he glanced over toward Rude, who was still unmoving against the wall he was cuffed to. His head was still hanging slightly forward, his eyes closed... Part of him wanted Rude to wake up, to somehow save him from this creep's wandering hands... But he knew Rude couldn't actually do a damn thing, just like Reno couldn't, and he kind of didn't want his friend to see what was happening.

It was embarrassing, humiliating... He didn't want Rude to have to see this happening - to know how weak Reno was, to see how scared he probably looked. He needed to pull himself together. He probably looked nervous as hell right now, and that simply didn't sit right with him. He needed to remain calm, stoic, threatening - if that was possible with him being cuffed to the wall...

He looked back at his captor with a harsh stare as Corneo leaned in closer, reaching his fingertips up toward Reno's cheek, running them along a scrape or bruise there. "You poor dear... Somebody got a little rough with you, huh? What happened?" He stuck his lips out in a mocking pout.

"You should see the other motherfucker." Reno breathed. "Usually every bruise I have means some other sorry prick is lying in a ditch dead somewhere..."

"You got into it with someone you shouldn't have, huh? Did you do something naughty? Did he have to punish you?" Corneo grinned.

Reno closed his eyes and exhaled. What the fuck was wrong with this guy?

"You should be more careful with yourself... Your features are so delicate, so attractive... You don't need to be doing naughty things and getting yourself into trouble with people like that." Corneo noted, running his fingers down the side of Reno's face, over his throat, then around toward the back of his neck, holding on as if to force the younger man to continue looking at him. "Well... No matter. You look stunning anyway." Corneo smiled, leaning down as if to kiss him.

Reno let out a shaky breath, turning away as best as he could until Corneo's heavy hand gripped tighter around his neck. The man's other hand grabbed toward Reno's hair, gripping a fist-full and forcing him not to move his head.

"Hold still..." Corneo whispered, grabbing him so tight Reno couldn't help but to audibly wince.

Reno squeezed his eyes and his mouth closed, grunting in frustration and pain as he tried to shrink down. He couldn't really turn his head anymore with the guy's hand so tightly gripping his hair and his neck. Was this fucker seriously going to kiss him? He whimpered softly when he felt the guy's breath on his face, so close. He tried to move his head again, but the fist his hair was presently wrapped cruelly around held tight.

"Don't you fucking dare-" Reno grimaced, unable to bring himself to open his eyes. He honestly felt like he wanted cry. Reno didn't do that kind of shit. He wasn't a fucking child. He didn't get scared and cry about it... Especially not over some stupid overweight fuckin' clown grabbing onto him and trying to force him to kiss him.

Corneo let about a small laugh, the breath from which Reno could actually feel on the corner of his mouth as the guy leaned in closer.

Before he could stop himself, Reno heard himself let out a small, shaky breath, almost tearful. He couldn't move... He didn't want this to happen... It was only a kiss - at least for now - but he made it damn clear he didn't consent, and it was really fucking frustrating to not be listened to - especially on something as personal as this.

"Don't-" Reno breathed softly, trying one last time to turn his head away, wincing when doing so caused the hand around his hair to pull painfully.

"Ahem..." Rude cleared his throat from across the room.

Reno breathed out a relieved, shaky breath as he felt Corneo's hands let go of him and the weight of the man's body which had been pressed firmly against his own moved back a few inches. He opened his eyes to see the heavier man turning toward Rude. Then he closed them again and exhaled, feeling himself shudder. Maybe the guy was bluffing... but damn... That was fucking scary.

"Oh. Wonderful. At last. Now that you're both awake, I guess our little date is over for now." Corneo smirked back toward Reno, who stared angrily back, hoping that the fact that he was physically shaking wasn't readily apparent.

"I see my collection room is still operating at a zero percent mortality rate. Good that you've both survived. Let's get down to business then. I need you to call off your goons... Or if you're the goons needing to be called off... do whatever you need to do to get Shinra to leave me alone." Corneo ordered.

"That's easier said than done... We're not in charge..." Rude frowned.

"I don't care. Just make it happen. Refuse. Do something outrageous so their sights are on you and not me." Corneo shrugged. "Kill someone important, leak something big to somebody, just go into work and light something important on fire. I don't know. You figure it out."

"No fuckin' way, man. We're not the ones doing all this stupid fucked up shit, spilling all of Shinra's plans to the damn enemy like some kind of idiot tv villain. You-" Reno cut himself off with a sharp breath and wince as Corneo's fist connected with his ribs. He doubled over as much as he could, groaning in pain and trying to get himself to breathe properly again. He honestly hadn't expected that degree of violence from a guy seemingly so happy to gently pet all over him before.

"You're not in a position to negotiate, darling." Corneo warned.

"Neither are you." Rude spoke up.

With a loud, dramatic exhale, Corneo shook his head, wrapping his arm around Reno's shoulders and walking the fingers of his other hand slowly down the man's chest, stopping briefly where his shirt was buttoned, grabbing the first of a series of fastened buttons, and simply tearing it off entirely.

Reno closed his eyes and balled his hands into fists, tugging uselessly on his arms and trying to will himself to just focus on breathing and not freak out. That's probably what Corneo wanted - for him to start getting mad, to show his fear, to start yelling, begging... He was going to give him the satisfaction.

"What do I have to do to get you guys to pardon my mistake?" Corneo whispered, pulling off the next button, unhooking Reno's jacket, and then pulling off the final button."Hm?"

Reno continued to focus just on breathing as he kept his eyes closed. He didn't want Rude to see this... If something did happen, he didn't want Rude to see. This guy couldn't do anything too bad though. He wouldn't... He was just trying to scare him... He just wanted Reno and Rude to take him seriously, to believe he'd do something crazy. Right?

xxxxxx


	3. Chapter 3

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chapter 3

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Glaring silently toward Corneo and Reno, Rude tried to think of the right thing to say to potentially get them out of this. He knew they needed to be careful here. Their enemy had them in a lot more dangerous position than usual, and even from the mere few seconds he'd seen of this man's interactions with Reno right when Rude woke up, before he called attention to himself, he could see the guy had decided to target the smaller man specifically. It had been hard to see what exactly was happening with Corneo's body blocking his view, but he had heard Reno almost crying, telling the guy not to do whatever he was doing.

Now Reno's eyes were still squeezed shut. He was being very uncharacteristically quiet, and his breaths were a little shaky. Rude could tell he was scared, and he had every right to be. Rude didn't even know what else may have happened before he woke up. It was possible Reno had even more reason to be scared than Rude was aware of, but even just what was happening now was alarming. Corneo's actions, while slow and careful, were terrifyingly threatening - in a much different way than either Reno or Rude were accustomed to having to deal with. None of their other enemies had gone this route with them.

"You're so slim, but fit." Corneo whispered, mostly blocking Rude's view of the younger man as he seemingly groped over his chest, under the shirt he'd unbuttoned. "Not overly fit... Too much muscle is a bad thing, I think. You're strong, I'll bet - for your size... but wiry and slender - like a sneaky little fox."

"You're not." Reno growled, blinking his eyes open and glaring back at the man.

Rude grimaced, hoping Reno's mouth didn't get the younger man into more trouble here. What was the point in insulting a guy who had him chained down? Reno was at this guy's mercy, whether it was fair or not. The last thing he should have done was needlessly offend him. Did Reno not understand how much damage this man could do? The guy had them literally chained down by all of their limbs. He could kill them, easily... He could do a lot of very fucked up things before killing them too.

Corneo just laughed. "I don't have to be, little fox. I get what I want either way."

"We'll get you off the hook, Corneo. Okay? Just let us go, and we'll work something out with our boss." Rude suggested. He didn't honestly have a plan. Rude wasn't just going to waltz into Shinra HQ, tell them to call this one off, and have it actually happen. Nor did he want to...

"I need something worked out before I let you go." Corneo smiled, raising his eye brows. "So you wrack that little brain of yours and get back to me. In the meantime..." He turned back toward Reno, running a hand up his chest. "If I untie you, will you be good? It's going to be hard to do much with you otherwise. Will you show me a good time while we wait on your buddy to work something out with your boss?"

"Oh sure... Of course. Untie me." Reno glared. "We'll do whatever you say. I'll be real cooperative."

"Well... I'd have to drug you first of course." Corneo laughed. "But I don't want you fully knocked out... I still want to hear your little moans... I want to feel you squirm and shake... Just don't want you freaking out and killing me while I'm plowing into you... I'm gonna give you credit here, kiddo. I do think you could probably kill me if you weren't tied up. So you'll have to be drugged since I don't trust you."

Rude frowned, honestly feeling kind of like he wanted to vomit merely hearing the disgusting things this guy was saying to Reno. "What do you want? What answer is it you're waiting for, Corneo?" He asked simply. "We'll let you go, okay? We'll just walk away, give you a chance to get out of town."

"I want a guarantee that your boss won't send the next batch after me when you two leave..." Corneo answered, not even looking toward Rude as he continued leaning heavily against Reno.

Reno let out a frustrated growl and tugged at his arms.

Rude still couldn't see where the larger man's hands were, what exactly he was doing. His broad back hid Reno almost entirely from view... But he could tell by the fact that Reno's hands were pulled into angry fists and he periodically flinched, that whatever was happening, the red-haired man didn't like it.

"We'll try to work something out." Rude spoke up, having no clue what that something could be. If Shinra wanted Corneo dead, Reno and Rude weren't going to be able to do anything about it. They were on a job here. If they didn't do it, someone else would. But Corneo didn't need to know that. Rude supposed he could just tell the guy whatever he wanted to hear, long enough to get himself and Reno out of this mess.

"You need to do more than try." Corneo spoke, still facing away from Rude, but stepping to the side a bit so Rude could at least see his partner better now.

For a brief moment, Reno stared past Corneo's shoulder, directly at Rude. He didn't wear his usual cocky smirk. His eyes weren't narrowed as if he was deep in thought of how to fuck this guy over. He didn't look like he was planning something that was sure to shock or anger everyone around him like he often did. He just looked scared. Lost and scared - with no plan whatsoever. His eyebrows were knitted with worry, his eyes wide... His lips were set in a somewhat pouty frown.

The younger man wasn't even saying anything, which was extremely unusual for him. Normally even when he was losing a fight (which wasn't often in the long term, but increasingly more often lately) he'd still be shouting out insults and cocky quips. But not now. Maybe Reno did understand the gravity of the situation... Maybe the instances when he kept running his mouth this time was out of nervous fear more than confidence or arrogance - because staying quiet when his voice was the only tool he had access to was terrifying.

"I could really have a lot of fun with you." Corneo went on, running his fingers up along Reno's throat, then grabbing his hand lightly around the younger man's neck. "I've got so many ideas... Drug you just enough so you're uncoordinated, unable to try anything, but still awake enough to give me some reaction, have someone bring you to my room. You don't even need to be tied up if you're drugged well enough."

Reno let out a disgusted breath, but didn't say anything. He was perhaps for once speechless. Rude knew he sure as hell couldn't come up with much to say right now. They couldn't exactly demand that the guy shut the hell up and get away... He wasn't going to agree to it. Corneo was saying things that were just so shocking and horrible, scary, threatening - perhaps that was his intent - to be so awful and disgusting that Reno and Rude had no choice but to do whatever he said. It was working... Rude would pretty much do anything at this point to get Reno the hell away from this creep.

Corneo exhaled loudly as he went on, running his hand up and down under Reno's shirt as he spoke. "I can just imagine it already... You laying there, moving just a little, but not much, half-conscious, moaning, panting... I would be too of course, panting that is... I think we'll both enjoy it... I'll even try to be careful so it doesn't hurt you... Unless you want it to. You do seem to like getting into rough fights, don't you? You enjoy pain, perhaps? It's compatible with what I like for sure... I haven't properly done these things with a man. Have you?"

Reno squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing and staying silent.

"Corneo... Stop..." Rude breathed. "You don't need to do this... We'll cooperate. We can talk with our boss... I'm sure we can get this all erased for you, okay? But we can't do anything if we're stuck here, waiting for someone else to come finish the job we were told to do. They haven't heard back from us. They're going to come check eventually. Time's ticking."

"I need a guarantee." Corneo growled, turning toward Rude, seemingly squeezing his hand slightly around Reno's throat if the younger man's sharp gasp was any indication. "Until you can promise me I won't be killed - that I'll be left alone... I'm going to have my fun... Put these soft little lips to good use-" He ran his fingertips up toward Reno's mouth, tracing over his lips, but suddenly shrieking and drawing his hand back, balling it into a fist and slamming it into Reno's ribs.

For a moment, Rude wasn't sure what had happened, but he quickly realized Reno must have bitten the guy's hand. It obviously wasn't the best choice in the moment, as Reno couldn't fight back any further, and obviously biting the guy was going to piss him off... But at the moment, it was the only tiny way he had to defend himself. Rude wasn't surprised that the younger man got angry and went for it.

"You little brat!" Corneo growled pushing a hand against Reno's collar as the young man had doubled forward in pain from the punch against his ribs.

"Don't touch me!" Reno finally screamed, thrashing against the restraints around his wrists and ankles as Corneo shoved his back hard against the wall. Rude could tell Reno was still in pain from the punch to his abdomen, but it seemed the man was more scared than anything, as his breaths were frantic, his eyes were huge... He was definitely terrified, and so was Rude now, knowing he couldn't do a damn thing to intervene here.

"We'll just do it here. Right in front of baldy. That'll be fun. To have a little audience?" Corneo growled, fishing around inside the pocket of the strange robe he was wearing. He held some sort of small bottle in one hand, and a cloth in the other. "I've always got it on me, and today it's for you, little fox." He laughed evilly, splashing some liquid from the bottle onto the rag. "It's your fault. You're getting this because you bit me. Hold still."

Reno turned his head and choked out a breathless whimper as Corneo grabbed one hand around the back of his head and pressed the cloth over his mouth and nose.

"No! Stop!" Reno screamed, pulling wildly at his arms as he tried to turn his face and shrink back. His begging quickly turned into frantic, muffled whimpering as his attacker held the drug-soaked material firmly over his face.

Rude found himself pulling at his own arms, grimacing and holding his breath. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. "Stop!" He breathed, completely unsure what he could possibly say or do to help his friend. "Corneo, don't! Please stop!" He hadn't wanted to betray how desperate he felt. He never wanted to beg the man, but Corneo was escalating so far, so fast. If he started doing much worse than this, right here where Rude could see it all without being able to stop him, he didn't know if he could bear it.

"Sounds like you two are just Shinra's little pawns. They won't even care if you don't come back. They'll just send in the next ones... You have no power at all, do you?" Corneo smirked, pressing the cloth over the lower half of Reno's face as the younger man struggled. "If you've got nothing to offer me, I'm just going to do whatever I want. I'm gonna get killed anyway, right? Might as well have some fun first!"

"Corneo, please." Rude breathed, feeling his heart pounding wildly in his chest. "If you do this, we're not going to keep Shinra from coming after you... You've got us where you want us, but we've got you too. You're forgetting that. We're not in charge, but we do have some pull, and if this is added to your resume... If you waste time here, doing this while they're on their way over..." He nodded toward Corneo and Reno. "They'll kill you for sure."

Corneo slowly moved the cloth away from Reno's face, at which point Reno inhaled a deep, shaky breath, squeezed his eyes shut and coughed. He had seemingly been trying to keep himself from breathing in whatever the other man had doused the rag with, but his eyes did look a little unfocused when pulled them back open and made eye contact with Rude. He looked tired, somewhat disoriented, unfocused. It seemed he hadn't avoided the drug completely.

"You really think they're on their way over already?" Corneo stared.

"Yes." Rude nodded. "We don't normally take this long... They'd have expected word from us pretty quick, and we've been passed out... now this... They could realistically be here any minute now." Rude lied. No one was going to come to check on them. Rude and Reno didn't ever require a babysitter, and a majority of their superiors very likely barely cared if they lived or died.

Reno whimpered a shaky breath, his eyes looked tiredly toward Rude again, as if silently begging his friend to somehow save him from whatever this was. It felt strange for Rude to be doing all of the talking in this circumstance, but Reno was clearly at a loss for words for once. Rude needed to do what Reno presently could not.

It took a mere few seconds before the younger man forced himself to look away, squeezing his eyes shut, perhaps resigning himself to this, perhaps trying to keep himself from crying. Maybe he didn't trust that Rude could get him out of situation.

"We don't have time for that then do we, little fox..." Corneo frowned, tossing the drug-soaked rag to the ground and placing his hand on Reno's shoulder. "But I should still punish you for biting me... We'll make it quick..." He chuckled evilly, pulling Reno's shirt and jacket as far over his shoulder and arm as his bound wrists allowed, grabbing toward the younger man's neck with one hand, and gripping his upper arm with the other, leaning down, possibly with the intention of biting his shoulder... "Two can play at that game. I've got teeth too."

Reno grimaced and let out a shaky breath, but squeezed his eyes shut and remained silent as he uselessly tugged at his arm. Rude could tell the younger man was extremely frustrated right now - frustrated that he was so powerless, that he'd lost all control of this situation and couldn't do anything at all to defend himself.

Rude didn't quietly allow Corneo to continue unchallenged though. He couldn't. He felt like a broken record at this point, but he had to keep saying it. He had to get the guy to back off. "Stop." He demanded in a cold, low, serious tone. He didn't want to betray the wrong kind of emotion and get the man even more worked up. Something told him Corneo would just love it if Rude outwardly showed how fearful he felt inside. "Stop and listen to me." Rude demanded.

"Why should I?" Corneo laughed, squeezing his hands tighter as Reno choked a breathless groan of discomfort, but still kept his eyes shut tight, clearly not wanting to feel any more present during this than he had to.

"We can't get you entirely off the hook... We can't just snap our fingers and have everything back to how it was for you. That's true. It's not up to us..." Rude explained calmly. "But we'll give you a hell of a head start to make a run for it. We'll say you and your people were gone when we got here. We couldn't find a trace. They won't know where to start looking... Or I could even claim to have seen you head off in a direction you didn't even go... We could say you drugged us, but I heard your guard mention where you were going before I passed out - it could send them the wrong way completely. That'll buy you a lot of time. Okay? You've got to make a decision soon though. If you're still here when they come looking for us... you won't have that option anymore. You need to leave. Now."

"How do I know you'll keep your word?" Corneo narrowed his eyes, keeping one hand around Reno's neck and sliding his other under the smaller man's shirt, grabbing at the waist of his pants with his other hand, pulling harshly at the garment, jerking Reno's pelvis forward so that the smaller man grimaced and let out a frustrated grunt.

"You just have to trust us. That's all I can offer. That, or you wait until our people come look for us... And you won't have a choice anymore." Rude explained, still putting every ounce of his patience into remaining calm on the outside during this conversation. He absolutely hated being literally tied down, unable to do a damn thing while this guy groped all over and threatened his friend. He never in his life wanted to kill someone more than he did right now.

Reno inhaled a slow, frustrated breath, exhaled, then blinked his heavy eye lids back open and stared at Corneo, clearly trying to not lose his temper, but clearly very close to doing just that. "I don't wanna keep having to tell you this, you nasty prick... but if you don't get your fucking hands off me-" Reno started.

"You'll do nothing." Corneo breathed, grabbing at him harder so that Reno audibly groaned in pain. "You don't have any room to tell me no... I can do whatever I want here. It's not up to you."

Rude could tell his friend was still livid though, choosing to let his anger beat out any fear still coursing through him for now. Reno's hands were clenched into tight fists, he was glaring at Corneo as if honestly believing simply being mad enough would give him the power to kill him with his eyes, and his mouth was set in a frustrated grimace. Rude could see Reno was extremely on-edge, more than ready to lash out in any way that he could.

"I'm gonna beat the shit outta you if you don't get the hell off of me." Reno threatened, tugging uselessly at his arms again, probably hurting his own wrists. "If you don't get the fuck off of me, I'll fucking kill you. I do have control here - maybe not right now, but Shinra's a big fuckin' group. I might have let you live, you know? Let you get away if I felt bad enough for you when we found you... I'm not a total fucking monster, but if you don't get off me-"

"I'm the one in control here." Corneo growled, pulling Reno even closer by the front of his pants, clearly getting mad. He glared at the younger man, balling his other hand in a fist.

Reno let out an audible growl, clearly ready to snap. "I'm not fucking kidding. You touch me again and-"

"You need to get a move on." Rude interrupted, trying to keep his friend from pissing this guy off more. "If they don't hear from us soon, they're going to come looking. You might have the two of us where you want us, but you won't be able to drug and tie up the whole organization. So go. While you can. We won't follow - but you do need to release us. If anything happens to us, Shinra's going to know it was you, and come after you harder."

"If I sense anyone coming after me, I'm coming after you." Corneo growled, gripping a hand around Reno's neck again, and suddenly grabbing harshly between the man's legs.

Reno whimpered, flinched, and squeezed his eyes shut, clearly caught off-guard by the gesture. The red-haired man groaned in pain as Corneo seemingly squeezed his hand harder. "Don't touch me!" Reno screamed, squirming under the man's hands as best as he could. "Get off of me! Get the fuck off of me!"

"Let him go." Rude breathed, feeling honest terror rising in his chest.

Reno choked out a breathless noise - perhaps Corneo's hand around his neck was squeezing harder too. "Stop-" The younger man gasped softly, his eyes still closed tight. His voice actually shook, like he was holding back tears, but very close to failing.

"If Shinra comes after me, I'm finding you again, and you aren't as sly and invincible as you fucking think you are. You think you're so tough and bad-ass. You run your dirty little mouth thinking you're so tricky and smart, so strong and capable. You're not. You're just fast... not when you're tied up. I can own you, you little brat." Corneo growled, still gripping both of his hands harshly around his target's throat and between his legs. "I could find a new place to live, somewhere secret, and keep your scrawny ass chained down in my basement until I get bored of you."

"We're not sending anyone after you. Not if you leave soon... Now let him go." Rude demanded, balling his own hands into angry fists. "Get out of here while you can."

"I'm getting real tired of you people telling me what to do... Especially when I'm the one who's got you tied up. You're not in control here. I am." Corneo grumbled, glancing over his shoulder at Rude.

Reno winced again, blinking his eyes open and staring toward Rude. Tears shined in his eyes, but he wasn't letting them fall. His breaths were quick and shaky, but he was otherwise quiet now - perhaps unable to talk thanks to Corneo squeezing his neck, perhaps unsure of what to say for once.

"Okay. You're in control. No one's saying you're not... But you should get going before our people come looking for us." Rude stared. "That's all I'm saying. We were sent off on a job that shouldn't have taken this long. We're not back yet. We may be their pawns, but you still don't want to throw all your pawns away when they're still useful... They will come to find us - if only to see if we did our job - which we haven't. If they get here and you're not gone yet..." Rude trailed off.

Corneo nodded, seeming to understand as he turned back toward the younger of the Turks and leaned his body against Reno, putting his face close to the man's hair and inhaling, running his fingers through Reno's hair, grabbing his ponytail in a fist and pushing his hand down the front of the younger man's pants.

"Don't!" Reno screamed, sounding so much more desperate and panicked than Rude had ever seen or heard from his partner. "For the last damn time, get the fuck off of me!" Reno choked as he struggled wildly against his binds, his voice shaking. "Don't touch me! Get off of me!"

Rude could tell he was probably damaging his own wrists. He was pulling against the cuffs so hard, yanking, tugging, jerking his body as much as he could - which wasn't far. "Corneo... Please..." Rude breathed, still trying to keep his voice calm, but unable to force himself to refrain from begging at this point.

"Get your fat, grubby fucking hands off of me!" Reno screamed, still thrashing as far as possible. He sounded so scared, so angry, as Corneo continued forcing his hand down the front of the younger man's pants, grabbing and squeezing.

"Too bad I don't have the luxury of time here, because you my dear, would have been a lot of fun... So feisty and vocal... Such a little brat, in need of some strict discipline... You usually get things your way, don't you? Not when you're chained down. Not when you can't move." Corneo smirked, still moving his hand under Reno's clothing, forcing the button and zipper on the front of the younger man's pants to open from the mere bulk of his hand forcing itself in.

"Get off of me!" Reno screamed again, followed by additional screaming that didn't even include begging, or even any sort of words. It was only sound, panicked, frantic, desperate, loud sound.

"Shhhhh..." Corneo laughed, slapping his other hand over Reno's mouth. "You earned this, little fox. You bit me. You were so naughty." He whispered. "You really hurt my little finger... You know, you should consider yourself lucky I'm not using my teeth. You'd deserve it, you wicked little brat..."

Rude felt his heart sink as he pulled at his own restraints. He was very much stuck. The cuffs on his limbs were bound so tightly... He didn't know what to do. Corneo didn't seem like he was going to stop.

Reno squeezed his eyes closed tighter as he groaned a muffled whimper under Corneo's hand. The man's actions were obviously doing more than scaring and humiliating him. It was clear Reno was in pain.

"Corneo!" Rude growled, still somehow keeping his cool for the most part when he honestly felt like snapping. "You need to go. Our people know we're here... If we don't get the job done and return, they'll come find us... then they'll find you... I'm not bluffing. If you waste time antagonizing us, it's going to cost you your life."

"I've got people too - more than you know..." Corneo growled, seemingly grabbing Reno harder if the younger man's shaky whimper under the man's hand was any indication. "But I suppose you're right... I probably need to get going, and unfortunately, I can't take you with me, little guy... I'll bet you'd be too much to handle if you weren't pretty securely chained down, wouldn't you?" He laughed, finally running his hand up Reno's chest, keeping the other firmly planted over his mouth.

For the moment, Rude kept himself from saying anything else. Corneo seemed to be winding down, and he clearly didn't like other people telling him what to do. Hopefully, from here, he'd leave on his own. Rude didn't want to speak up and have the guy trying to prove he was in charge again. Whether their superiors might come looking for them soon or not, it would take only a matter of minutes for this man to do horrible things to Reno - thinks which would scar for life, which couldn't be undone.

So Rude silently held his breath, watching, waiting, hoping for Reno's sake that this was truly almost over.

Corneo exhaled. "You're going to want to keep your word if you don't want a sequel to this performance... One of my men will come unlock you in a few hours." He finally let go of Reno and, stepped back and looked the young man up and down. "Shame we didn't get more time together... But again, whether or not we meet again is up to you." He shrugged, then walked away.

Reno let out a small sob, looking down at the floor as soon as Corneo was gone from the room.

For a moment, Rude was silent, unsure what if anything he should say at this point. This wasn't something he and his partner had ever gone through together before. There wasn't an obvious answer here. What Reno had just suffered through was terrifying, somewhat brutal. Rude didn't know what to say.

Reno didn't cry for long. Rude wasn't even sure he could describe the moment as crying as much as that one choked sob, followed by closed eyes and shaky breathing. Reno was clearly trying to hold in as much of it as possible, and it didn't take him long to recompose himself, choosing to continue staring at the floor rather than looking at his partner as he simply breathed in and out, slowly, carefully.

"You okay?" Rude finally asked in a voice that almost unintentionally shook.

Reno exhaled and shook his head no. "It's fine..."

"You sure?" Rude frowned.

Reno paused for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah... Fuckin' creep just scared me is all. Obviously I don't like weird fuckers grabbing and groping all over me like fuckin' perverts, but he's gone. He didn't do any real damage. I'm fine."

Rude nodded, feeling awkward about the situation still, but unsure what else to say. Reno had clearly been extremely bothered by the incident. He wasn't okay. He was upset. He needed to process this, and it seemed he wasn't going to let himself. Not out loud at least.

And Rude certainly wasn't the sort to know what to say or when to say it. Most of his communication with his partner consisted of silent nods and gestures. Reno just knew what he was wanting to say without him ever having to say it.

Maybe he knew in this case too.

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	4. Chapter 4

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chapter 4

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Reno seemed to have calmed down a lot in the twenty or so minutes since Corneo left. It hadn't taken the young man long to start acting like his usual self again. Whether he truly was fine or not remained to be seen, but he was acting more or less unaffected at this point.

"I'm gonna take a real hot shower when I get home. Probably sleep for like fifteen hours straight if I can. And call in sick tomorrow. I am fuckin' sick, right?" The younger Turk laughed, tilting his head to the side and smirking at Rude. "Sick of everyone's bullshit."

Rude forced a small smile and nodded.

By this point Rude was getting more and more worried by the minute, wondering if any of Corneo's men had even been told to stay behind and let them free... if it could possibly be that simple... if the guards would either ignore the situation entirely and leave them here, or if they might do worse - something more along the lines of what Corneo himself had done. Why not? If they were into it, they had Reno and Rude right here, securely tied up - more vulnerable to something like that than they'd ever been before.

But he didn't speak those concerns aloud for the time being. For now, his main focus was on his partner. Whether Reno liked it or not, whether he was willing to admit it or not, he'd just been through something very traumatic.

On the outside, Reno was acting like he wasn't bothered by what Corneo had done and threatened to do. He was talking a lot again, claiming he was going to find Corneo and anyone associated with him and kick their asses later. His confidence seemed to have been fully restored, even though he was still tied up and definitely not guaranteed safety just yet. He was even talking about everything else under the sun, just like always, at this point pretty much acting like the only issue here was the fact that they were cuffed to the wall.

But Rude knew Reno had been extremely upset by what Corneo did. The ordinarily cocky, confident young man had looked and sounded positively terrified while Corneo was in here, grabbing all over him, threatening to do sick, horrible things to him. Just the fact that his voice had been shaking, that his angry threats were mixed in with trembling breaths, whimpers, and actual begging was proof enough that Reno had been terrified in a big way - a way he definitely wasn't used to having to deal with. This incident might just become one of many traumas the younger man logged away and didn't ever acknowledge again, but it was certainly a different type of horror than what he was used to.

"And if that blonde giant-sword fake-SOLDIER dude and the gun-arm guy didn't die when the pillar fell, I'm gonna kick their asses too." Reno went on, looking up at the ceiling and exhaling as he shifted his wrists under the cuffs locking him to the wall. "And sorry, but if that girl's with 'em and she tries attacking me, I'm gonna hit back. I won't just beat her up like a big fuckin' bully if she's not fighting too. I'm not a damn monster, but you underestimate women, Rude. She was tough."

Rude let out a small laugh. He hadn't felt right attacking Tifa - even while the young woman was fighting back against them. It didn't help that she was right, and they were wrong. Rude didn't want to hurt any of them, but especially not her.

"It's fuckin' cold in here." Reno pouted as he looked around the room and visibly shivered. "Like a funeral home or somethin' and the sick floral smell ain't doin' it any favors. I fuckin' hate this place."

Rude frowned. Reno's shirt and jacket were fully unbuttoned and open, with the garment still half-way slid down one of his arms. He wasn't in the position to fix it. His pants were still undone in the front too. Rude wasn't surprised he felt cold.

With his clothes so skewed, Reno's injuries from the fight at the pillar were very apparent too. Rude already knew about them, of course. He'd helped patch his friend up after. Reno wasn't even conscious by the time Rude hit the button to separate the plate and dragged his partner back onto the helicopter. Rude had fixed him up as best as he could, while his own condition really wasn't great either, but as soon as they were in the safety of the helicopter, Rude's first and only goal was to make sure Reno's injuries weren't anything life threatening.

He was pretty much just scraped and bruised, a few minor burns, but nothing major, no broken bones or heavy bleeding. Nothing he wouldn't recover from fairly quickly. Still, the injuries were rough. Reno was usually so quick and often escaped entire fights without a single visible injury. On a normal day, he could take down a group of five or ten men without even allowing them to hit him back. He'd had a really rough week this week... Getting beaten up by the young man traveling with Aerith, then again at the pillar... and now this.

It hadn't been easy on Rude either. He wasn't used to this degree of failure... But at least he wasn't covered in scrapes and bruises like his partner was. At least Corneo hadn't zeroed in on him like he had with Reno.

Rude wished he could have taken Reno's place today though. Having to sit back and watch that, unable to really help while that creep grabbed and groped all over his friend, having to watch just out of reach while his best friend tried not to cry, winced in pain when the guy hit him and choked him, his breathing sharp, shaky, fearful, his eyes huge, brimming with tears, utterly terrified... That was perhaps one of the worst moments Rude had ever had to suffer through... There were a few terrifying minutes where Rude wasn't sure if Corneo was going to stop, and he was sure that he was in no position to do a damn thing about it.

Reno practically seemed invincible a lot of the time. Rude wasn't even sure how he managed to do the things he did. He was really rather small, physically, fairly short, compared to Rude at least, very slim - not even that muscular compared to other people who fought as well as he did... But he was so quick, so capable... And then these bastards cheated, locked them in a room, pumped in drugs through the vents, locked them up so they couldn't fight back. It was bullshit.

"Why you starin' at me, partner?" Reno laughed nervously, shifting uncomfortably under the cuffs.

Rude shook his head, looking away and exhaling.

"They better let us out soon before I start feeling like I have to piss... The more I think about it, the more it's gonna settle in." Reno shrugged and went on rambling. "You know how that is. You lay down in bed, wonder if you gotta piss, and you don't even really have to... but then you lie there for an hour just thinking about it until you've got to get back up."

Rude couldn't help but to smile at Reno's odd choices of conversation topics. The younger man just didn't ever stop talking. It was nice to see he was back to normal in that regard, going on and on, changing topics and continuing on what was a one-sided conversation as usual.

He wondered if Reno's endless chattering was a tactic to keep himself from thinking too much. Their job was tough on the conscience. Giving yourself too much room to think about what you've done in their line of work was risky. And Rude knew that better than anyone. He gave his own circumstances so much thought it sometimes made him nauseated. Doing a job he didn't agree with fucking sucked, but he felt pretty trapped at this point. They didn't have the option to just walk away.

Rude's attention was brought back to his friend when he heard Reno let out an uncomfortable grunt across the room. The younger man was looking up at one of his hands, pulling down with his arm, slowly, but not stopping as the restraint pulled tight and harshly around his wrist and hand.

"What are you doing?" Rude frowned.

"Thinkin' about dislocating my thumb so I can just get us outta here now." Reno answered casually. "This waiting shit's gettin' old."

"Reno... don't..." Rude grimaced as he heard his friend wince in pain again, still pulling harshly at his own arm. "Reno! Stop it!" He demanded.

"Why?" Reno frowned, but stopped pulling at his arm and he pouted at his friend. "I'm already beat to hell anyway. Wrists fuckin' hurt like hell. I know I shouldn't have. It was pointless - no help at all, but I pulled on 'em so hard over and over again. Wouldn't be surprised if they're covered in bruises tomorrow. Fuckin' cracked ribs probably fully broken now after that creepy fucker punched me, not once, but two god damned times. What's a dislocated thumb to add onto the list? Won't even notice."

Rude frowned as he focused on his partner's ribs. He had forgotten about that - that they had determined Reno's ribs were likely cracked after the fight at the pillar... and Corneo had hit him very hard, twice.

"Don't worry about it, Rude. Just... I gotta get out of here before I start to fuckin' freak out." Reno frowned, pulling at his hand again, wincing as he did so. "I just wanna get out... I can't stay stuck in here much longer..."

"Reno, stop. Someone's going to come unlock us." Rude promised. It was clear Reno was already beginning to freak out.

"Said the fuckin' liar rapist. I'm not waiting for one of his freak fuckin' guards to come in here and molest us too." Reno growled, tugging at his arm harder.

Rude shook his head. "I don't think the guards would, Reno..." He guessed. "Just calm down... Let's give this a minute. We'll talk about what to do... You don't need to hurt yourself. Just take a breath and we'll talk about it. Come up with a plan."

"No." Reno shook his head, yanking hard at his arm and letting out a frustrated scream that quickly turned into a choked sob as he seemingly gave up. "I want out now!" He whimpered, leaning forward as though wishing he could let himself fall to the floor. "I want outta here, Rude... I want out..." He whispered.

"I know... It's okay. Reno... We'll get out of this. It's alright. You're alright..." Rude breathed, realizing his friend had gone from pretty much 100% chipper and seemingly unaffected to completely panicked in the span of a minute.

"I can't..." Reno whimpered. "I can't do it... I just want out of here..."

"I know." Rude nodded, exhaling nervously. He had to calm his friend down. All of that earlier - Reno's chattering, ignoring the situation... It was a mask, hiding that he was honestly still very bothered by what had happened - what was still happening. Rude needed to keep that in mind. Reno wasn't just being impatient. He was scared, panicked even.

"I don't want to do this, Rude... I hate this..." Reno's voice shook. "I don't usually fuck everything up so bad. I haven't done anything right in days. I keep getting into these situations that are a god damned disaster... I'm not a fucking idiot, Rude, but you wouldn't know that by all the bullshit that I've fucked up recently."

"Just breathe." Rude went on. "Reno, it's okay... It's been a rough couple of days for everyone. People are clashing hard... We're in the middle of something big and it's stressful. We'll get through it. Everybody goes through hard times now and then. We won't be in here forever. I'll make sure of it. I'll get us out of here one way or another. Alright? You don't worry about it for now. Leave it to me this time. Take a breath. You're alright. Breathe..."

Reno nodded, but did as instructed, breathing in shakily, then exhaling and closing his eyes.

"That's it. Keep breathing..." Rude urged, pausing and watching as Reno slowly inhaled and exhaled, his breaths still shaky, but slowly evening out. "You okay?"

Reno shook his head no, and didn't even negate it with an affirmative verbal answer this time.

Rude frowned, silently watching as Reno continued simply focusing on breathing for about a minute before opening his eyes and frowning.

"I feel so damn trapped, man..." Reno admitted, his voice low and uncharacteristically serious. "Here. By Shinra... I just keep fuckin' up. I was on a roll for so long, got cocky, and keep getting my ass handed to me... everything I do... and I don't even wanna be doin' this shit. I didn't want to drop the plate... Why'd they make us do that?"

Rude shook his head. It was definitely overkill. It wasn't necessary. He and Reno had tried to stall, to give the people who lived in Sector 7 ample warning to get the hell out... but there was no way they weren't responsible for quite a few deaths.

"I don't know when I'm supposed to draw a line and just refuse... or if I even can..." Reno breathed. "I didn't like that, man. I didn't like goin' in there, fighting those people. Bein' on the wrong fuckin' side. I've done horrible shit, but that was too much."

Rude nodded. He agreed. He was even the one who ultimately pressed the button and dropped the plate. He was certain Reno would have done the same thing if he were able to, but Rude did do it. No matter who would have done it instead if need be, they didn't actually do it. Rude did. It didn't matter who would or wouldn't have done it if given the task. Rude pressed that button, separated the plate, allowed it to fall and crush people to death. Innocent people. Children. Families... People who were able to get out first lost their homes. He knew it was wrong and he did it anyway.

Maybe if he had been the one knocked out, Reno might have been strong enough, brave enough not to follow through. Rude nearly stopped himself, but he didn't. He couldn't risk being on Shinra's shit list. He did something horrible to keep himself in good standing with them. Maybe Reno could have done what Rude couldn't - the right thing, perhaps at the expense of his job, his life...

"I'll tell you what though... I'll give Corneo's men like twenty more minutes before I break my fuckin' hand... but if one of 'em does come in here, whoever it is is gettin' a fuckin' beat down." Reno glared. "Gotta take all this rage out on someone, and the fuckers who helped this creep drug us and chain us up in here for him to do whatever he wanted to us seem like good candidates for it."

Rude frowned. "You know they're probably in a similar position as we are - working for Don Corneo out of fear... Trapped, knowing if they walk away, he'll come after them - send someone after them. They probably hate having to do what they do..." He noted.

"We're not like them." Reno disagreed. "We don't drug people and chain 'em up... hand deliver 'em to fuckin' perverts... This is like sadistic fuckin' torture. This guy is for sure an actual rapist. I do horrible shit, but not like this..."

Rude shrugged. That was true. His and Reno's moral compasses were perhaps a bit off - maybe it was even harder that they were in fact not that skewed but they still felt trapped enough to do things they didn't agree with anyway... but they did each have limits, and legitimate torture, completely unfair fights like this where their opponents would be drugged, bound... sexual assault - they would never...

Reno exhaled and closed his eyes. "I don't think anyone's actually gonna come looking for us. Coreno could have stayed and done whatever sick, twisted shit he wanted to do. We're lucky he believed you."

Rude stared silently across the room at his friend. His throat felt tight. He didn't even want to think about how that would have played out - being tied down, forced to see and hear his friend being hurt across the room with no end in sight. How far would Corneo have taken it?

"Rude?" Reno spoke up again, staring with furrowed brows, large, sad eyes, and his lips in a pout.

"Yeah?" Rude frowned.

Shaking his head and closing his eyes, Reno swallowed. "I was really fucking scared..."

Rude exhaled a small breath, honestly surprised by this degree of honestly from his ever confident partner. Reno rarely admitted to having any doubts about anything. He just pushed through, promised he was alright always - even if he was clearly injured, close to passing out. He was always fine. That's what he said at least.

"I didn't think he was gonna stop." Reno whispered, his voice shaking.

Rude frowned, feeling tears stinging at his own eyes when he saw Reno's face again. The younger man's eyes shone with tears as well, but he was clearly trying hard not to let them fall.

"It wasn't fair. We were tied up... Couldn't do nothin' even though this fat fuck probably doesn't even know how to fight. I just had to fuckin' stand there while he said all that sick shit, started tryin' to suffocate me with that rag covered in whatever fuckin' drug... There was definitely something heavy on it, Rude. I was starting to feel it, but I held my breath... If he didn't move back, he'd have knocked me without within like a minute... And I couldn't do shit... I just had to fuckin' stand there hoping he wouldn't do anything too fucked up..." Reno went on.

Rude swallowed dryly, quietly allowing his partner to get all of this out. Rude wasn't exactly sure what to say. He'd already run himself dry just begging and pleading with Corneo so much. He probably said more during that twenty minute span than during the entire week leading up to it.

"But Rude, he was fucked up. He is. He's the most fucked up person I've ever met... And I've met a lot of weird, sick fuckin' creeps in my line of work. You know how it is... Nothing like this... No body who'd just start shovin' their hand down my pants, squeezin' my fuckin' dick..." Reno trailed off staring at the ground.

Rude shook his head. He didn't even know what to say. That wasn't unusual for him, but it felt even worse now. He was silent, and for once, very uncomfortable about it. He wanted to be able to say something to make this better, but there just weren't words to fix it.

"We could'a won in a fair fight against that fat prick and all of his people at once. They're nothing... But they cheated. That's so fuckin' cheap." Reno pouted. "I could have punched that fucker in the neck and killed him in one god damned swing... Can you imagine, Rude? Just... Like wanting to beat someone up, and drugging them and tying them up first? What a fuckin' coward loser piece of shit..."

"They knew they were no match for us." Rude agreed, hoping to give Reno a little bit of confidence back. "You would have won. Easily. Wouldn't have even needed me there."

"Yeah." Reno laughed. "I know. If you gotta drug somebody and tie down all their limbs to win a fight? You automatically lose, right?"

"That's right." Rude nodded with a forced smile that fell back into a frown as soon as his friend looked away. He was honestly starting to get legitimately worried that they might still be in more danger than it seemed.

Corneo had been pretty harsh, horrifying. He made it painfully clear what he wanted and was moving fast in that direction. What if he was hanging back, waiting to see if anyone else came for him? What if he noticed no one else was coming, and headed back in? What if his staff were just as big of creeps as he was?

Reno and Rude were still tied down here, just waiting for whoever wanted to come along and do whatever they wanted to them.

"I'm glad you were here though." Reno went on. "I mean, not that I'm glad you're stuck here, probably gonna piss your pants alongside me when we're still stuck here in ten hours... Just, I was gettin' so worked up and mad... I wasn't even thinking. I don't think I said a damn thing that got him to leave me alone. That was all you. I just got angry and yelled at him. Bit him like a damn animal..." He laughed. "I was so fuckin' nervous..."

"You had every right to be. I'm glad I was here with you too. We're partners for a reason." Rude agreed.

"Yeah. We are. Who knew you'd have to do all the talking and that it'd actually work." Reno laughed. "Guess I dropped the ball on that one. I gotta get my shit together soon before I get myself killed."

With a calm, steady exhale, Rude looked up at one of his bound hands. He realized the same thing Reno had - that dislocating his thumb would make his hand the right shape to squeeze it free. It would be a small price to pay to save Reno from a repeat of what he'd already been through, and while there was no guarantee anyone would even try something like that again, Rude couldn't discount the possibility.

"We gotta find your glasses." Reno noted, clearly unable to stop talking even for a minute. "You look weird without 'em."

Rude laughed, but was still thinking about freeing his hand. He wondered if he could manage it. It would be easier to dislocate the bone before trying to pull it free, but with his hands bound separately, that would be hard to do. He might just have to position it just right, and then viciously tug down as hard as possible. Ignore what would be excruciating pain until he and his friend were safely out of here.

"I'll bet I could fight off all those guards even without my weapon." Reno went on. "I don't remember where it went... I guess I probably dropped it when I was passing out from the drugs. Glad the stuff wasn't lethal. I didn't know for sure at the time. I was like half-preparing to die, man."

Rude exhaled, putting his fingers all together and rotating his thumb slightly, then glancing at Reno, who was busying himself looking around the room, taking in all the tacky decorations. They were in a room that basically looked like a dungeon, but the guy had still managed to make it look cheap in a likely attempt and making it look impressive - white leopard-print curtains, shades of red, pink, and purple on various framed art - which mostly depicted attractive women in lingerie, random stacks of golden objects like he was trying to show off to his prisoners...

"This guy's interior designer must have been like a pimp or something. Looks fucking disgusting. Everything about this place is nauseating." Reno continued. "I feel like I'm gonna catch a disease just looking around and breathing in here."

With a hissing wince, Rude squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath as he tugged his arm down, creating a popping sound as his thumb was dislocated, but his hand was free.

Reno must have noticed the sound, because when Rude opened his eyes a moment later, his partner was staring at him with wide eyes and his mouth hanging open.

"How'd you do that?" The younger man gasped.

Rude bit back a pained groan, not wanting to admit that he just did exactly what he told Reno not to. Trying to will his injured hand not to actually shake as he did so, he reached over toward his other hand and worked on unfastening the cuff, then reached down toward his ankles and freed them as well.

"Did you break your thumb?" Reno stared as Rude approached him, carefully undoing the restraints around his partner's ankles, then his wrists. Reno immediately reached toward Rude's wrist, grabbing it lightly and inhaling a small breath as he stared down. "Why'd you do that?" He breathed, staring back up into Rude's eyes.

"To get us out of here." Rude answered simply, pulling his hand back and exhaling. He still felt kind of sick from the drugs he'd breathed in if he were going to be honest, but they didn't have time to bitch about it. They needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Okay..." Reno nodded. "Well... I mean, you told me not to... Rude... You didn't have to do this. I was gonna, and my whole body's been in constant pain all day - I probably would'a hardly felt it at this point."

Rude shook his head. "Let's just go." He spoke, putting his uninjured hand on Reno's shoulder and turning him toward the door. "You okay to walk, partner?"

Reno let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah... I'm not the one dislocating my fuckin' bones, man."

"Yes, but you were drugged. Twice." Rude frowned.

"One and half times more like. I'm fine. Let's go." Reno nodded. "We gotta fight the guards... Do you think you can with your hand broken?"

Rude frowned as he stared into his partner's eyes. He could tell Reno was feeling nervous, as his weapon was gone, and he didn't normally fight with just his hands. He could. He wasn't completely useless without the rod... but it would potentially throw him off just enough, especially if he was still feeling slightly light-headed like Rude was.

"I think we should just try to sneak out and head to my apartment." Rude suggested. "Don't want to risk it with my hand." He added, making sure to place the reasoning on himself to spare Reno any further damage to his already bruised ego.

"Okay... Let's get the fuck outta this hell hole." Reno breathed, grabbing Rude's arm and leading the way.

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	5. Chapter 5

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chapter 5

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"Let me try to do it." Reno insisted, reaching toward Rude's hand as the man pulled it protectively back against his chest.

"I can do it. It's a dislocated thumb, not a severed leg. It's not a big deal." Rude grumbled, trying to wrap a makeshift split around the injury. He'd already popped the joint back in place - hopefully correctly... and still wouldn't let Reno near it.

"Come on, man... I'm not an idiot. I've fixed this same shit before." Reno insisted. Everyone who worked for Shinra was required to have quite a bit of first aide knowledge. They even had medical kits in their vehicles. They took this stuff seriously. "If you want it done right so your hand's not fucked up forever, you could just let me help."

"I've got it." Rude persisted, turning slightly on his couch as if in an attempt to hide what he was doing from Reno, who was sitting cross-legged on the cushion next to him.

Reno exhaled and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "I let you help me when I was all beat up." He grumbled.

"You didn't let me." Rude murmured. "You were unconscious."

"Yeah, and I didn't wake up and act like a paranoid freak and make you stop. I'm not gonna hurt it." Reno frowned. Rude was always gentle when he helped patch up injuries... So was Reno - if anyone would ever let him. No one seemed to believe he was capable of being gentle, but he was. "Thought you trusted me." He grumbled.

Rude exhaled tiredly, then turned back toward Reno, silently handing him the gauze and split and holding his hand up in front of him.

Reno couldn't help but to smile. He'd prove to Rude here and now that he was good at taking care of people too. They were partners. Rude was the one who got injured and needed help this time, and Reno was going to fix him up.

So he carefully took Rude's hand in his, placing the flat, plastic rod they were using as a split gently next to his thumb. He didn't even know what the plastic bit was, but it looked like it would work.

"Tell me if it hurts at all." Reno suggested, focusing intently on his work, determined to be careful and do this right so he could prove himself to his partner. He felt like he was constantly needing to be saved lately. He wanted to be the one helping someone else for a change.

"You ever think about trying to get out of the whole Turks business?" Reno spoke in a soft voice as he worked. He was thinking about it more and more every day lately, but he realized it was just a dream. He couldn't get out and he knew it. Not with his life.

"Easier said than done." Rude noted.

Reno nodded in agreement, slowly wrapping the gauze around Rude's thumb, hand and wrist to keep the splint in place. He hoped the injury healed quickly, and was still kind of mad that Rude did this to himself after insisting Reno shouldn't do the same. It was Reno's idea. He could have done it is, and would have if Rude hadn't made it clear that it wasn't a good idea. Rude just wanted to play hero and do it himself. That's why he wouldn't let Reno do it.

"Might be more worthwhile to try to change the direction of the way Shinra does things than to flee. We don't want them after us. Having been on the inside, we know how scary that'd be..." Rude suggested.

"Yeah..." Reno laughed. "Well, that's easier said than done too. You think we're gonna go in there and tell 'em to stop making us do immoral shit and have them just shrug and agree. Think we're just gonna stay stuck killin' people for somebody else's agenda... I don't even disagree with it like over half the time. Usually they're people I'd have killed too... Just lately they seem to be making stuff personal instead of doing what makes sense."

Rude nodded in agreement, raising his hand up and turning it slowly. "You did a good job. Thank you." He said very simply.

Reno grinned and nodded. "Any time, partner." He leaned back on the couch again, putting his feet up on the table and exhaling loudly. "What a night, huh? Or day? Damn...I don't even have any concept of time right now. How long did that take?" He wondered.

Rude shook his head.

Sitting partially back up, Reno stared at his friend, looking him silently up and down. It occurred to him now that he hadn't really checked in on if Rude was okay beyond the broken thumb. Reno passed out in the drug room pretty early... He was unconscious for a while - he didn't know for how long. Maybe Rude even woke up, interacted with their captors, fell asleep again... Reno had no idea what went on while he was still out.

"Did any of 'em hurt you?" Reno finally asked rather bluntly with furrowed brows and a frown. "Like, when I was passed out?"

"No." Rude frowned as well. "I passed out a minute after you did, woke up in the room we were tied down in... Corneo never even stood close enough to reach out and touch me. Did anything happen to you while I was passed out?"

"Not really." Reno shrugged.

Rude raised his eyebrows and stared, silently asking for more details.

Reno shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Like a couple minutes before you woke up, I woke up... Corneo was standing in there, just like... staring at me, bein' a fuckin' creep. He came up and started talking about some guy he was into. Grabbing all over me. Same stuff you saw. Just lasted a little longer, but it wasn't bad.. Just creepy."

Rude nodded, staring with a frown, looking like he wanted to ask more questions, but wasn't sure how. He never knew what to say. That, or he just thought about what he was going to say before running his mouth like Reno did.

"Trust me, partner... You saw the worst of it." Reno forced a laugh, stopping himself from elaborating when he felt tears stinging his eyes. He didn't think he'd ever been so scared in his life... and he'd come very close to actually dying quite a few times. What Corneo did was a completely different kind of terrifying.

For a long moment, they were both quiet. That was normal for Rude... But the longer it lasted, the more Reno was starting to feel anxious about it. What was Rude thinking? Why couldn't Reno think of anything to say?

"You okay?" Rude finally asked simply.

Reno exhaled, then nodded. "Yeah." He whispered. "I just- I didn't expect him to do what he did. It wasn't even something I had time to be afraid of until it was happening... I get nervous all the time, that someone's gonna get the upper hand, fight harder than I thought they would, like actually physically hurt me or kill me... or you... I worry about you too... But I didn't expect that."

Rude shook his head. "I didn't either." He agreed.

"I knew he was a weird pervert. I mean, he's got a reputation around here. Everybody knows that about him. I just thought he was like only into women. I didn't think we'd have to worry about that." Reno frowned.

Rude remained silent as he looked back at his friend with a small frown, clearly thinking instead of talking, as usual.

Reno couldn't manage to do the same at the moment. Silence made him uncomfortable, especially when he was already uncomfortable. "It wasn't a big deal. I probably made it seem worse than it was. I'm okay, Rude... He just scared me. I didn't know if he was going to stop, and he was being increasingly fucked up... I shouldn't have let on how scared I was. I feel like an idiot, and that's rare for me, you know? Because I'm really smart and capable and I don't do stupid shit or get scared of people like him."

"It's okay..." Rude finally responded. "Reno, he scared the hell out of me too. That whole place did."

"Really?" Reno breathed. Rude was typically fearless. Even when Reno had fears inside and kept them pushed down to appear tough, he always got the impression his stoic partner standing alongside him truly did feel invincible. Rude never showed fear. Even at Corneo's mansion, he'd kept his cool as far as Reno could tell. He even broke his hand prying it through a small cuff and didn't cry out. Barely flinched.

"Really." Rude nodded. "What they did was totally cheap and unfair, like you said. But it was indeed scary. Starting in that room, starting to feel lightheaded, seeing you get dizzy too... Then those guys came in and you were practically passed out already. I was close... Woke up with that creep over there threatening you and I couldn't do anything to help you. Reno, I was terrified."

Reno felt a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Not that he was glad that Rude had been frightened, but it felt kind of validating to know he wasn't the only one who was genuinely scared out of his mind during this nightmare.

"But we're both okay now, and we'll be more prepared the next time we run into him." Rude went on. "He's not getting away with what he did to you. I'll personally see to it." The older man growled, looking even more serious than usual.

"It wasn't that bad." Reno forced a breathless laugh.

"Yes it was, and if they don't send anyone else out to get rid of the bastard, I'll seek him out myself." Rude persisted. "Nobody fucks with my partner like that. I won't allow it. Ever."

Reno stared silently for a moment, genuinely surprised at how angry Rude seemed just then. He didn't usually swear as much as Reno did. In fact, he usually barely said anything. He was certainly being vocal now, and vulgar too.

Rude shrugged and leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling. "No loose ends." He spoke simply.

Reno smirked, leaning back as well, staring up at the ceiling for a moment, then turning slightly and looking at Rude. "Thanks, Rude." He said simply, knowing Rude would know exactly what he was saying thanks for without him having to spell it out.

"Any time." Rude nodded with a small smile of his own, then closed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "You know, I could fall asleep right here. I honestly might. You can have my bed for the night if you want it." He yawned.

"Nah. I'll just stay here." Reno declined. "I'm so exhausted I don't even know if I'd make it all the way in there before face planting."

Rude smiled slightly, keeping his eyes closed.

Reno closed his eyes too.

xxxxxx

THE END

xxxxxx


End file.
